The present invention relates generally to the field of indexing and searching on a global communications system and, more particularly, to a system for indexing and searching through a server-based application, particularly using a sub-root domain name agent as a prefix attached to a proprietary universal resource locator (URL) to quickly expedite the search.
Addressing for the World Wide Web (which may be referred to simply as xe2x80x9cthe Webxe2x80x9d) was first designed as a system of numbers which made up an IP address for connecting one server with another. For example, the designation xe2x80x9c202.109.57.9xe2x80x9d uniquely identified an IP address in the early Web addressing system. This system was not intuitive and thus required precise knowledge of the address that was to be viewed by a user, much as a telephone number must be known precisely in order to be connected to the proper receiver. The numerical IP address designation for Web addresses quickly gave way to the more intuitive alphanumeric system which is so familiar today. This system is referred to as IP Resolution, and greatly assists the user in recalling or searching for a desired Web site.
In common usage today, the prefix of a Web address is given by xe2x80x9cwwwxe2x80x9d. Normally, the prefix xe2x80x9cwwwxe2x80x9d is followed by a string of characters which identify a host. This string of characters, separated from the prefix by a xe2x80x9cdotxe2x80x9d (xe2x80x9c.xe2x80x9d) generally identifies the officially registered domain name made up of no more than 23 characters. The domain names are registered today in the United States primarily by Network Solutions and other similar organizations, and by other authorized agencies around the world. Following the character string which identifies the host is an extension, which serves to identify a hierarchy, and was originally designed to identify the type of host, such as, for example, xe2x80x9ccomxe2x80x9d for commercial businesses, xe2x80x9corgxe2x80x9d for non-profit organizations and the like, xe2x80x9cnetxe2x80x9d for networks, xe2x80x9ceduxe2x80x9d for educational organizations, xe2x80x9cgovxe2x80x9d for governmental agencies, and so on. Also, countries other than the United States may be identified by the extension, such as xe2x80x9cukxe2x80x9d for the United Kingdom, and so on.
Web sites often use more than one layer or page, and character strings following the site""s extension may further distinguish the pages on the site, such as for example www.mysite.com/kids/art/0058/. Further, certain companies with a Web presence typically offer free hosting services to provide extended tags off the host name in order to provide an address to a site, such as for example www.tripod.com/xcx9cmysite/art. Less commonly, some Web sites, as a means to direct a user directly to a department or particular area that may or may not be a main function of the business, will apply a sub-root domain before the host and after the xe2x80x9cwwwxe2x80x9d prefix, such as www.patents.ibm.com.
All Web sites, or individual Web site pages, may be accessed through a Web browser by typing in the Universal Resource Link (URL) of the Web site in a locator bar provided by the browser. Certain areas of a Web site can be obtained by adding identifiers as the examples above. Education (xe2x80x9ceduxe2x80x9d) sites use these identifiers more commonly than most other types of sites. For example, www.library.spscc.ctc.edu distinctly identifies a distinct area within this xe2x80x9ceduxe2x80x9d site. Web pages within a search directory may also be accessed by using the Web browser""s locator. By entering a host name and a sub-root domain name agent that links to an indexed hierarchical directory, an end user may retrieve a hub site in which the end user can access information about Web sites or Web pages that pertain to his search.
Search engines and directories have typically used host suffixes as codes or identifiers to locate or query to a particular page on selected sites. Some host suffixes provide a string of characters which is as long as a small paragraph, and quickly loses its utility as a memory aid to help a user find the site. A sub-root domain name agent is a system for querying a search engine with a hierarchical directory, allowing an end user to do a search directly from the locator bar on any browser that accesses the Web.
The most common technique used by search engines is to search for metatags which match the search terms entered by a user. Metatags are specific words or terms which the host hopes will be entered by a searcher when he is looking for topics which the host provides. For example, in the www.patents.ibm.com example above, the site includes the metatag xe2x80x9cpatent(s)xe2x80x9d so that when this term is entered in the search field, the URL for this site will be revealed by the search engine.
Unfortunately, with the proliferation of millions of Web sites, the brute force search engine technique gets slower and slower. Further, the search results may be so voluminous as to have little or no utility to the one doing the search. New, specialized search engines provide access to a predetermined sub-set of all Web addresses, but this places an additional burden on the searcher in the skill required to find the specific address that he is looking for.
Thus, there remains a need for a global search engine which is faster than is currently available, and does not eliminate certain web sites simply by subject matter. Further, the search engine should more quickly zero in on the specific topics of interest to which a search is directed.
The present invention addresses this need in the art. The system and method use the available locator bar on a Web browser as a query entry. Key search word(s), terms, or phrases, placed as prefixes to a proprietary host name (domain name/URL), link the end user directly to a hub site that suggests Web sites pertaining to the particular interest or to redefine the search.
More particularly, the present invention provides a method and system for searching the World Wide Web through a sub-root domain name agent connected to a proprietary URL within a hierarchical directory system. Sub-root domain name agents are keywords or combinations of words connected as a prefix to a proprietary URL, continuously linked together in a hierarchical chain that interfaces with a searchable index directory. Within the hierarchy, sub-root domain name agents direct the user to either a hub site for refining the search or directly to a proprietary Web site.
The server-based application, an indexed hierarchy directory system, comprises computers connected to each other by way of a communication network. Stored on the network of computers are proprietary hub sites for refining sub-root domain name agent searches and/or direct results of a search. Within this network of computers are indexed Web sites of the Internet through their unique URLs. A communication interface connected to the Internet is used for fetching Web pages from the computers in accordance with the URLs and URL links to form the results of the search. Hub sites define the search by displaying two categories in alphabetical order. The primary category, xe2x80x9cBest Pickxe2x80x9d, is determined through established criteria. The secondary category is created from Web site submissions for indexing and also includes a grading system.